Composite needle

ABSTRACT

A tongue ( 67 ) is provided, at a front end thereof, with a drop-loop preventing step ( 79 ), and the hook ( 11 ) is provided, on an outer edge portion thereof extending from a sharp-pointed tip ( 27 ) of the hook to a top ( 29 ) of the hook, with a loop escape surface ( 31 ) to hide the drop-loop preventing step ( 79 ) when the hook ( 11 ) is closed by the tongue ( 67 ). In addition, the front end of the tongue is lowered so that a height between a bottom of the needle body and a top of the drop-loop preventing step ( 79 ) is lowered more when the slider is in a knock-over position than before the slider arrives at the knock-over position and also the top of the drop-loop preventing step ( 79 ) positioned at the knocked-over position can be positioned at a lower level than the top ( 29 ) of the hook. This can allow can allow a further smooth knock-over of the loop without negative effects on the yarn feed requirements for the capture of the yarn by the needle hook.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a compound needle used forknitting a knitted fabric, which comprises a needle body having a hookat a tip thereof and a slider having a tongue formed by two blades andin which the hook is opened and closed with the slider tongue by arelative movement between the needle body and the slider.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In general, when the compound needle is used to knit a knittedfabric such as a bubble stitch requiring an increased number of knittingyarns for forming a single loop (stitch), the loop is held on the slidertongue of the compound needle repeatedly several times. The loopretained on the slider tongue sometimes slips off therefrom to causeknitting faults. The slippage of the loop from the end of the slidertongue into the hook before the loop is knocked over presents problemsfor knitting stitches, not peculiar to the bubble stitch.

[0003] There was proposed a compound needle wherein the slider tongue isprovided, at a front end thereof, with a small projection, to provide ahard slippage of the loop before knocked over (Japanese PatentPublication No. Hei 1(1989)-54459). The small projection provides theadvantage of well holding the loop on the slider tongue, while on theother hand, it provides the disadvantage of providing a hard release ofthe loop from the slider tongue to hinder the loop from being knockedover.

[0004] In the light of this disadvantage, the applicant of thisapplication previously proposed an improved compound needle inInternational Patent Application No. PCT/JP00-03127. In that compoundneedle, the slider tongue is provided, at a front end thereof, with adrop-loop-preventing step to prevent a loop held on the tongue fromslipping off therefrom during knitting and also the hook is provided, onan outer edge portion thereof extending from a front end of the hooktoward a top thereof, with a loop escape surface of a gentle slant, suchthat when the hook is closed by the tongue, the drop-loop-preventingstep is covered by the loop escape surface to facilitate release(knock-over) of the loop formed.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a furtherimproved compound needle of a knitting machine by making improvements onthe compound needle described in International Patent Application No.PCT/JP00-03127 in such a manner that the loop can be well prevented fromslipping off from the front end of the slider tongue into the hook untilit is knocked over and also can be released therefrom further smoothlywhen it is knocked over.

[0006] It is another object of the present invention to provide acompound needle of a knitting machine that can allow a further smoothknock-over of the loop without negative effects on the yarn feedrequirements for the capture of the yarn fed to the needle by the hook.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention provides a compound needle used for aknitting machine comprising a needle body having a hook at a front endthereof and a slider having a tongue formed by two blades, the sliderbeing supported on the needle body to be freely advanced and retractedalong a surface of the needle body serving as a supporting surface sothat the needle hook can be opened and closed with the slider tongue bya relative movement between the needle body and the slider; the tonguebeing provided, at a front end thereof, with a drop-loop preventing stepto prevent a loop retained on an upper edge of the tongue from slippingoff from the front end of the tongue; and the hook being provided, on anouter edge portion thereof extending from a sharp-pointed tip of thehook to a top of the hook, with a loop escape surface to hide thedrop-loop preventing step when the hook is closed by the tongue, whereinthere is provided tongue lowering means for lowering the front end ofthe tongue so that a height between a bottom of the needle body and atop of the drop-loop preventing step is lowered more when the slider isin a knock-over position than before the slider arrives at theknock-over position and also the top of the drop-loop preventing steppositioned at the knocked-over position can be positioned at a lowerlevel than the top of the hook.

[0008] The tongue lowering means does not allow the lowering of thefront end of the tongue at least until the loop retaining edge of thedrop-loop preventing step provided at the front end of the tongue of theslider goes past the sharp-pointed tip of the hook

[0009] The tongue lowering means include a cam surface formed on thesupporting surface of the needle body for supporting thereon the bladesof the slider.

[0010] The tongue lowering means is provided with biasing means forbiasing lower surfaces of the blades of the slider against a bladesupporting surface of the needle body so that the front end of thetongue can be lowered in accordance with a level of the cam surfaceprovided in the needle body.

[0011] The compound needle may comprise tongue raising/lowering meansfor raising and lowering the front end of the tongue so that the heightbetween the bottom of the needle body and the top of the drop-looppreventing step can be lowered most when the hook is fully opened; canbe raised most when the knitting yarn is captured by the hook; and canbe lowered more when the loop is knocked over than when the knittingyarn is captured, and also a height between the bottom of the needlebody and the top of the drop-loop preventing step can be positioned at alower level than a height between the bottom of the needle body and thetop of the hook, for the knock-over of the loop.

[0012] According to the present invention, since the front end of thetongue is kept in its raised position until the knitting yarn fed iscaptured by the hook while being closed by the tongue, or until theslider arrives at the knock-over position, the yarn feed requirementsfor the capture of the yarn can be prevented from being complicated orworsened. After the knitting yarn fed is captured by closing the hook,the loop retained on the tongue is knocked over from the needle at theknock-over position. At the knock-over position, the drop-looppreventing step is hidden by the loop escape surface of the outer edgeportion of the hook extending from the sharp-pointed tip of the hook tothe top of the hook and also the tongue is lowered so that the top ofthe drop-loop preventing step can be positioned at a lower level thanthe top of the hook by the tongue lowering means. Since the top of thedrop-loop preventing step is positioned at a lower level, when the loopis moved over the top of the hook, a reduced contact area between theloop and the needle is provided and thus a frictional resistance to theloop to be knocked over is reduced to that extent, and as such can allowthe smooth knock-over of the loop.

[0013] When the slider is positioned in its most retracted position andthe hook is fully opened, the top of the drop-loop preventing step ispositioned at a lowest level. During the time during which the slider isadvanced from that position to capture the knitting yarn by the hook andthe hook is closed, the front end of the tongue is raised and positionedat a highest level. When the loop is positioned at the knock-overposition after the hook is closed, the top of the drop-loop preventingstep provided at the front end of the tongue is positioned at a lowerlevel than the top of the bend of the hook. This can provide a reducedfrictional resistance to the loop to be knocked over, and as such canallow the smooth knock-over of the loop. Also, when the hook is fullyopened, the tongue can be positioned at a lower level, the verticalinterval between the throat and cheek of the needle body can be reduced,in other words, the height of the tongue containing portion formed inthe needle body can be reduced. This can provide the result that thefrictional resistance to the loop retained on the needle body can bereduced and the load placed on the knitting yarn can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 illustrates a compound needle according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

[0015]FIG. 2 illustrates parts of the compound needle.

[0016]FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a head portion of the compoundneedle. FIG. 3A illustrates the state of a needle hook just before beingclosed by a slider to form a loop and FIG. 3B illustrates the positionalrelationship between a needle body and the slider when the loop isknocked over.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along an arrowed line S-S of FIG.3B, which illustrates the retained state of the loop just before knockedover.

[0018] FIGS. 5A-5D of FIG. 5 are stepwise illustrations of relativemovements between the needle body and the slider made when the needlehook is closed and FIG. 5E is an illustration of the positionalrelationship between the needle body and the slider when the loop istransferred.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0019] A preferred embodiment of a compound needle of the presentinvention will be described below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

[0020] A compound needle 1 of an embodiment of the invention comprises aneedle body 10 and a slider 50 to be slidably engaged in the needle body10.

[0021] The needle body 10 includes a hook 11, a grooved portion 15having a blade groove 13 formed to contain blades 61 of the slider 50, acenter body portion 17 to support a lower arm 55 of a main body portion51 of the slider 50, a recess 19 formed at a rear end portion of theneedle body to be engaged with a front end portion of a jack 40, and astopper 21 for limiting a rear end position of the slider 50. The bladegroove 13 is formed so that it can contain front end portions of theblades therein when the slider 50 is in its retracted position withrespect to the needle body 10. Also, the blade groove 13 has a camsurface 23 formed on a bottom thereof so that when the slider 50 isadvanced, lower surfaces 65 of tongues of the slider blades formed atrear end portions thereof can be brought into engagement with the camsurface 23 to move the tongues upward and put them into-abutment with ansharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook. The blade groove 13 has another camsurface 25, formed at a hook side thereof with respect to the camsurface 23, to allow the tongues 67 moved upward by the cam surface 23to move downward when the hook is closed, as mentioned later. 26 denotesa throat and 28 denotes a cheek.

[0022] The needle body 10 and the jack 40 are formed to have thicknessequal to each other and slightly smaller than a width of the needlegroove. The jack 40 has at a center portion thereof a control butt 41projected therefrom to engage with a cam provided at a cam carriage (notshown) so that it can be moved back and forth to move the needle body 10forwardly and backwardly. 43 denotes an elastic leg which is curved toput its tail portion into abutment with the bottom of the needle groove.

[0023] The needle body 10 has side walls 35 at rearward positionsthereof with respect to the tongue containing portion 33 of the groovedportion 15, and the side walls 35 has forked portions 37 a, 37 b whichare formed integrally therewith and are extended forwardly from upperportions thereof on the front side. The forked portions 37 have, onlower surfaces thereof, cam surfaces 39 which are extended rearward toengage with upper surfaces of inclined surfaces 73 formed in the blades61.

[0024] The slider 50 comprises a slider body 51 and a blade 61 fixed tothe slider body 51. The slider body 51 has a slider butt 53 formed on anupper edge of a tail portion thereof and a lower arm 55, branched from alower edge thereof at a forward position of the slider butt 53, forsupporting the blades. The lower arm 55 has a thin-walled portion 57 onits portion except the lower edge of the slider body. 59 denotes a boredportion formed between the lower arm 55 and the slider body 51.

[0025] The blade 61 comprising two combined thin plates 61 a, 61 b ofsymmetric and substantially identical shape is accommodated in the bladegroove 13 of the needle body 10. The blades 61 a, 61 b have tongues 67a, 67 b formed at front end portions thereof to abut with thesharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook. The blade 61 has shoulder portions 69a, 69 b formed by raising rear end portions of the tongues 67 a, 67 band recessed portions 71 a, 72 b formed at a rear side of the shoulderportions 69 a, 69 b. The recessed portions 71 a, 71 b has the inclinedsurfaces 73 a, 73 b formed at portions thereof on the side near theshoulder portions. The inclined surfaces 73 a, 73 b are curved towardside walls at the grooved portions on a side thereof on which they areslidably contacted with the side walls in such a manner that the uppersurfaces of the inclined surfaces 73 a, 73 b are disposed to share aplane common with the cam surfaces of the forked portions 37 a, 37 b. 77denotes a coupling portion for coupling the blade with the slider body51 at the rear side of the blade groove 13. The front end portion 52 ofthe slider body extending forwardly is supported by the blade groovedportion 15 of the needle body 10. The tongues 67 a, 67 b are provided,on the tops at front ends thereof, with projections 79 a, 79 b servingas drop-loop preventing steps. 81 denotes a loop retaining edge formedon a base of the projection 79 (FIG. 3). Although the drop-looppreventing steps are provided in the form of protrusion formed at thefront end portions of the tongues in the illustrated embodiment, theymay alternatively be provided in the form of concave to hold the looptherein. In this alternation, the front end portion of the tongue formsa top of the drop-loop preventing step. The drop-loop preventing step(projection 79) may be provided in either of the tongues of the twoblades.

[0026] After the blades are combined into one piece, a tail end portionof the blade 61 is brought into engagement with the thin-walled portion57 of the lower arm 55 of the slider body 51 and the coupling portion 77is fitted in the bored portion 59. Thereafter, the slider body 51 andthe blade 61 are fixedly combined by crimping or equivalent. The blade61 is configured so that when the blade 61 is in engagement with theblade groove 13 of the needle body 10, a front end portion of the blade61 is biased so that the lower surface 65 of the front end portion ofthe blade 61 can put pressure upon the bottom of the blade groove 13 ofthe needle body 10 to some extent. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a headportion of the compound needle 1. FIG. 3A illustrates the state of theneedle hook just before being closed to form a new loop after a knittingyarn 91 is fed to the compound needle 1. A loop 93 is a previouslyformed loop, which is retained on a loop retaining edge 81 of the tongue67 and is prevented from slipping out by the projection 79. The blade 61of the slider 50 (or the lower surfaces 65 a, 65 b of the blades) isslid over the cam surface 23 formed on the bottom of the blade groove 13and is shifted up to a level where the front end of the tongue isabutted with the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook, as illustrated. Asmentioned above, when the slider 50 is in engagement in the needle body10, the lower surface 65 of the blade 61 at front end portion thereof isbiased downward and pressed against the bottom of the blade groove 13.Due to this, when the slider 50 is moved close to or away from the hook11, the blade 61 contacting with the bottom of the blade groove isshifted in level, so that the front end portion of the tongue is movedup and down.

[0027] An outer edge of the hook 11 extending from the sharp-pointed tip27 of the hook 11 to the top 29 of the bend of the hook serves as a loopescape surface 31, and an upper edge of the projection 79 of the tongue67 extending from the top 80 of the projection 79 to the upper edge 68of the tongue serves as a loop retaining slant surface 83. An angle ofinclination T1 of the loop escape surface 31 is made smaller than anangle of inclination T2 of the loop retaining slant surface 83. Theangle of inclination T1 is set to an extent that can allow the loop 93to easily go over the loop escape surface 31 of the hook so as to beknocked over. The loop retaining slant surface 83 is inclined so that itcan prevent the loop 93 retained on the tongue 67 from slipping offeasily from the front end of the tongue.

[0028]FIG. 3B illustrates the positional relationship between the needlebody 10 and the slider 50 when the knitting yarn 91 is drawn in the hook11 to form a new loop and the old loop 93 retained on the upper edge ofthe tongue (the loop in the previous course) is knocked over. Asillustrated, when the top 80 of the projection 79 of the front end ofthe tongue moves close to the bottom 32 of the needle body, it takes aposition lower than a height h2 between the bottom of the needle bodyand the top 29 of the bend of the hook. The way of shifting theprojection 79 downward from the position of FIG. 3A to the position ofFIG. 3B will be detailed later.

[0029] The hook 11 is wedged between the two blades 61 a, 61 b of theslider 50, so that the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook 11 is held insandwich relation between the tongues 67 a, 67 b. Then, the loop 93retained on the loop retaining edge 81 is raised by the loop escapesurface 31 of the hook 11 and disengaged from the projection 79 and thenis moved over the top 29 of the bend of the hook 11 and knocked over.When the hook is closed (for the knock-over of the loop), the upper edge68 of the slider tongue 67 is positioned at a lower level than the levelof the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook 11, while also the top 29 of thebend of the hook 11 is positioned at a higher level than the top 80 ofthe projection 79. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along an arrowedline S-S of FIG. 3B. As seen from this figure, since the top 80 of theprojection 79 is positioned at a lower level than the top 29 of the bendof the hook 11, the loop is smoothly knocked over from the needle with areduced frictional resistance.

[0030] Now, operation of the compound needle thus constructed will bedescribed. FIGS. 5A-5D are stepwise illustrations of relative movementsbetween the needle body 10 and the slider 50 made when the needle hook11 is closed. The loops and knitting yarn are omitted from theillustrations.

[0031]FIG. 5A illustrates the slider 50 located at its furthestretracted position with respect to the needle body 10. In this state,the tongue 67 is contained in the tongue containing portion 33 in theblade groove 13, so that the hook 11 is fully opened.

[0032]FIG. 5B illustrates the slider 50 moved to a position slightlyadvanced from the position of FIG. 5A toward the hook 11. In this state,the lower surface 65 of the blade 61 is engaged with the cam surface 3of the slider groove 13 and thereby the tongue 67 of the slider isshifted to a raised position. The shifting of the slider tongue 67 to araised position is associated with the elastic deformation of the bladeitself.

[0033]FIG. 5C illustrates the slider 50 moved to a position where theprojection 79 formed at the front end of the tongue of the slider 50abuts with the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook. The raised position ofthe slider tongue is maintained until the loop retaining edge 81 passesthe sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook. A vertical interval between theloop retaining edge 81 and the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook is setto an extent that can allow the loop to be surely guided to the loopescape surface 31, without being caught by the sharp-pointed tip 27 ofthe hook, allowing for a tolerance in the production of the needle and adeflection of the blade resulting from the load applied from the loopretained on the upper edge of the slider tongue. After the loop goespast the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hook, the front end of the tongue67 is shifted to a lowered position with forward movement of the blade61 along a downward slant surface of the cam surface 25 formed in theblade groove 13 of the needle body 10.

[0034]FIG. 5D illustrates the slider 50 moved further forward from theposition of FIG. 5C to a knock-over position where the hook iscompletely closed. FIG. 5D illustrates the positional relationshipbetween the needle body 10 and the slider 50 when the knitting yarn 91fed is drawn in the hook 11 to form a new loop and the old loop retainedon the upper edge of the tongue (the loop in the previous course) isknocked over (which corresponds to the positional relationship of FIG.3B). As seen from the figure, the front end of the tongue is declinedand the top 80 of the projection 79 is moved close to the bottom 32 ofthe needle body and positioned at a lower level than the top 29 of thebend of the hook.

[0035] As mentioned above, the front end portion of the tongue of theslider 50 is kept in its raised position without being declined untilthe loop retaining edge 81 goes past the sharp-pointed tip 27 of thehook and, then, it is declined for an interval of time from after theloop retaining edge 81 goes past the sharp-pointed tip 27 of the hookuntil it arrives at the knock-over position. This can ensure that theloop retained on the tongue 67 is guided to the loop escape surface 31of the hook 11. Further, since the front end of the tongue is kept inits raised position during an interval of time during which the hook isclosed to capture the knitting yarn, as mentioned above, the problemthat the front end of the tongue pricks the knitting yarn and the likeproblem can be avoided, thus exerting no negative effects on theknitting yarn fed to the needle. In the case of a latch needle, sincethe knitting yarn is pushed in to the hook by a latch turned when thehook is closed, the yarn feed requirements can be somewhat sweetened. Incontrast to this, in the case of a compound needle, since the hook isopened and closed by forward and backward movement of the slider, it isan important aspect for the yarn feed that the hook is closed in thestate in which the front end of the slider is positioned at a higherlevel than the hook, no matter how slightest.

[0036]FIG. 5E illustrates a compound needle of the type that can allowthe tongue 67 to go past the hook and move further to its advancedposition for transference of loop. In this advanced position, thetongues 67 a, 67 b are separated right and left by the hook 11 and theloop is pushed out by the shoulders 69 a, 69 b. The blade is raised withforward movement of the lower surfaces 65 a, 65 b of the blade along theslant surface of the cam surface 25, so that the tongue is returned toits raised position. Also, when the tongue advanced is positioned at theloop transference position, the lower surface of the blade at a rearside thereof with respect to the cam surface 65 is abutted with a flatportion of the groove extending between the cam surfaces 23 and 25 andthereby the tongue is kept in its raised position.

[0037] When the slider 50 is moved backward from the advanced positionto the retracted position, the slider 50 is guided by following the sametrack as the track along which the slider 50 is guided when movedforward. Specifically, the slider 50 is retracted and guided to itsoriginal return position (FIG. 5A) with the lower surfaces 65 of theblades contacting with the bottom of the blade groove 13, while theblades are gradually released from their elastic deformation during thattime. Even when the release of the blades from their elastic deformationis hindered by something like dust accumulated in the blade groove 13and thereby the blades are not accommodated in the tongue containingportion 33 of the blade groove 13 completely, since slant surfaces 75 a,75 b of the blade 61 are brought into engagement with guide surfaces 39a, 39 b formed on the forked portions 37 a, 37 b of the needle body 10,the blades are forced to be pressed down in the tongue containingportion 33.

[0038] While in the illustrated embodiment, the blades are fixedlycoupled with the slider body in such a way that the front end portion ofthe blade is biased downward so that the front end of the tongue can beraised or lowered in accordance with the level of the cam surface formedon the bottom of the blade groove, this way of fixing the blades to theslider body is not of indispensable. Any proper construction may beadopted for the fixture, as long as it can allow the front end portionof the blade to be always in contact with the cam surface during thetime during which the slider and the needle body are moved relative toeach other.

[0039] In the compound needle of the embodiment illustrated above, theheight between the bottom of the needle body and the top of thedrop-loop preventing step is lowered most when the hook is fully opened(FIG. 5A); is raised most when the knitting yarn is captured by the hook(FIGS. 5B, 5C); and is lowered somewhat more when the loop is knockedover (FIG. 5D) than when the knitting yarn is captured. This can providethe following results. Since the projection provided at the front end ofthe tongue is positioned at a lower level than the top of the bend ofthe hook in the knock-over position, the loop is slid more smoothly tothat extent, and as such can allow the loop to be smoothly knocked over.Further, by allowing the tongue to be raised from and lowered into thetongue containing portion when the slider is advanced and retracted, thevertical interval between the throat 26 and cheek 28 of the needle body10 can be reduced. This can provide the result that when the needle isadvanced and retracted, the frictional resistance to the loop retainedon the needle can be reduced and the load placed on the knitting yarncan be reduced, thus providing improved yarn feed requirements. This canallow the knitting of a knitted fabric of tight stitch.

[0040] While in the embodiment illustrated above, the part of the bottomof the groove extending between the cam surface 23 and cam surface 25formed in the blade groove is flattened, that part may be protruded inthe form of a gentle slope. This enables the front end of the tongue tobe positioned at a higher level when raised, and as such can providefurther improved yarn feed requirements. In addition, the provision ofthe tongue lowering means for lowering the tongue enables the drop-looppreventing step having a larger vertical interval than the conventionaldrop-loop preventing step to be arranged at the front end of the tongue.This enables the number of times for e.g. tuck stitch of the bubblestitch can be increased.

[0041] While preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated above, it is needless to say that the present invention isnot limited thereto but may practically be embodied variously within thesprit and scope of the present invention.

1. A compound needle used for a knitting machine comprising a needlebody having a hook at a front end thereof and a slider having a tongueformed by two blades, the slider being supported on the needle body tobe freely advanced and retracted along a surface of the needle bodyserving as a supporting surface so that the needle hook can be openedand closed with the slider tongue by a relative movement between theneedle body and the slider; the tongue being provided, at a front endthereof, with a drop-loop preventing step to prevent a loop retained onan upper edge of the tongue from slipping off from the front end of thetongue; and the hook being provided, on an outer edge portion thereofextending from a sharp-pointed tip of the hook to a top of the hook,with a loop escape surface to hide the drop-loop preventing step whenthe hook is closed by the tongue, wherein there is provided tonguelowering means for lowering the front end of the tongue so that a heightbetween a bottom of the needle body and a top of the drop-looppreventing step is lowered more when the slider is in a knock-overposition than before the slider arrives at the knock-over position andalso the top of the drop-loop preventing step positioned at theknocked-over position can be positioned at a lower level than the top ofthe hook.
 2. The compound needle according to claim 1, wherein thetongue lowering means does not allow the lowering of the front end ofthe tongue at least until the loop retaining edge of the drop-looppreventing step provided, at the front end of the tongue of the slidergoes past the sharp-pointed tip of the hook
 3. The compound needleaccording to claim 1, wherein the tongue lowering means includes a camsurface formed on the supporting surface of the needle body forsupporting thereon the blades of the slider.
 4. The compound needleaccording to claim 3, wherein the tongue lowering means is provided withbiasing means for biasing lower surfaces of the blades of the slideragainst a blade supporting surface of the needle body so that the frontend of the tongue can be lowered in accordance with a level of the camsurface provided in the needle body.
 5. The compound needle according toclaim 1, wherein there is provided tongue raising/lowering means forraising and lowering the front end of the tongue so that the heightbetween the bottom of the needle body and the top of the drop-looppreventing step can be lowered most when the hook is fully opened; canbe raised most when the knitting yarn is captured by the hook; and canbe lowered more when the loop is knocked over than when the knittingyarn is captured, and also a height between the bottom of the needlebody and the top of the drop-loop preventing step can be positioned at alower level than a height between the bottom of the needle body and thetop of the hook, for the knock-over of the loop.